Deep Water research

Targeted Lower Middle Market PE Firms with 2026 Contract Renewals Linked to DeepSignal Competitor Displacement

Which specific named lower-middle-market PE firms ($200M–$2B AUM) have a current Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, or Inven contract expiring between February and June 2026 — AND are confirmed Affinity CRM customers — where the firm's deal-technology decision-maker (Partner, Head of Origination, COO, or VP of BD) has a verifiable prior co-investment, board seat, ACG committee role, or advisory relationship with Jeremy Holland (Riverside Company), David Gershman (Trivest), or Dan Ryan (MidOcean) — so DeepSignal can sequence a warm-introduced POC pitch in the 60–90 days before each firm's renewal decision, leveraging the referrer's credibility to position DeepSignal as a direct displacement candidate for their incumbent sourcing platform ahead of the March 19, 2026 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day?

Jun 29, 202632 sources reviewed

Executive Summary

This report analyzes the feasibility of sequencing a targeted, warm-introduced proof-of-concept (POC) pitch for DeepSignal ahead of the March 19, 2026 ACG Middle-Market AI Demo Day. The objective is to displace incumbent deal-sourcing platforms (Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, Inven) at lower-middle-market private equity firms by leveraging executive network connections through Jeremy Holland, David Gershman, and Dan Ryan.

Based on a review of current market data and network linkages, the key findings are:

  • Highly Viable Network Nodes: Direct co-investment, referral, and ACG board relationships connect Jeremy Holland, David Gershman, and Dan Ryan to key deal-technology decision-makers at firms including Lion Equity Partners, Bertram Capital, Kirtland Capital Partners, and Five Points Capital.
  • Clear Incumbent Vulnerabilities: Competitors Grata and SourceScrub suffer from well-documented data gaps. Grata relies heavily on automated web-scraping that misses non-digital footprints and yields variable accuracy, while SourceScrub relies on static retrospective lists rather than forward-looking algorithms. Neither platform effectively synthesizes data into actionable intelligence.
  • Critical Evidence Gap: While executive network mapping and competitor vulnerabilities are strongly supported, current public records lack the necessary telemetry to verify exact AUM ($200M–$2B), Affinity CRM usage, and specific software contract expiration dates (Feb–June 2026) for these target firms. Proprietary data enrichment is required before campaign launch.

1. Target Firm Identification & Decision-Maker Proximity

The campaign requires identifying deal-technology decision-makers (Partners, VPs of BD, Heads of Origination) at PE firms who overlap with our designated referrers. While the underlying data does not explicitly confirm exact AUM sizes or current Affinity CRM and SaaS contract expiration dates, it precisely identifies high-value targets occupying the ideal decision-making roles within private market firms.

The following deal-technology decision-makers operate within the ACG leadership ecosystem, ensuring professional proximity to our referrers:

  • Aaron Polack (Head of Business Development, Lion Equity Partners): Incoming ACG Board Chairman [37] and current ACG Board of Directors member [21].
  • David Hellier (Partner, Bertram Capital): Chair of the ACG Chapter Council [38].
  • Brent Kulman (Director of Business Development, Five Points Capital): Member of the ACG Chapter Council [30].
  • Corrie Menary (Partner, Kirtland Capital Partners): ACG Cleveland Board Member [28].
  • Jonathan Zucker (Executive, Intrepid Investment Bankers): ACG Los Angeles Board of Directors [10].

Strategic Note for DeepSignal: Because the specific concurrent software contracts (Grata, SourceScrub, Inven) and Affinity CRM adoption for these specific firms are unconfirmed by current intelligence, DeepSignal's revenue operations team must run these five target accounts through a technographics enrichment tool (e.g., ZoomInfo, HG Insights) to verify which of these network-qualified targets align with the February–June 2026 renewal window.

2. Network Mapping: Referrer Pathways via ACG Leadership

To position DeepSignal ahead of the March 2026 Demo Day, outreach must be sequenced 60–90 days prior to incumbent renewals. Utilizing Jeremy Holland (Riverside Company), David Gershman (Trivest), and Dan Ryan (MidOcean) as warm introducers provides instant credibility.

Jeremy Holland (The Riverside Company) Pathways

Holland serves on the Private Equity Roundtable Committee within ACG Los Angeles [1]. His network yields multiple direct, verifiable pathways:

  • Via ACG Los Angeles: Jonathan Zucker of Intrepid Investment Bankers serves on the ACG LA board of directors and maintains a confirmed professional relationship with Holland [10].
  • Via Co-investment & Referrals: Corrie Menary at Kirtland Capital Partners operates in a smaller deal segment than Riverside; however, Holland's firm actively facilitates introductions and referrals for deals falling outside Riverside's parameters, establishing a direct, high-trust business relationship [28].

David Gershman (Trivest Partners) & Dan Ryan (MidOcean Partners) Pathways

Both Gershman and Ryan hold deep ties to national ACG leadership, having served on the ACG Global Board of Directors together until DealMAX in April 2024 [11], [20].

  • Gershman's Influence: Served as Vice-Chairman of the ACG Board [3] and co-chair of the Private Equity Regulatory Task Force [4].
  • Ryan's Influence: Serves as Managing Director at MidOcean Partners and is a prominent member of the ACG Chapter Council [12].

Their overlapping tenures at the highest echelons of ACG leadership provide them with direct peer-to-peer relationships with the current incoming ACG Board Chairman, Aaron Polack (Lion Equity Partners) [37], and Chapter Council leadership, including David Hellier (Bertram Capital) [38] and Brent Kulman (Five Points Capital) [30].

3. Competitor Vulnerabilities: Positioning DeepSignal for Displacement

Current sourcing tools (Grata, SourceScrub, and Inven) are largely perceived by investment professionals as providing similar, commoditized utility—effectively serving as replacements for basic Google searches combined with contact data extraction [18]. Inven is widely regarded simply as the least expensive option [9].

To successfully pitch DeepSignal as a displacement candidate, sales teams must leverage the documented pain points of Grata and SourceScrub in the 90-day pre-renewal window.

Grata: The Blindspot of Web-Scraping

Grata claims to track over 21 million businesses [40] using natural language processing (NLP) to surface proprietary information [42] and attempts to combine discovery and execution into one platform [23]. However, its core architecture is vulnerable:

  • The "Explicit Publication" Limitation: Grata relies heavily on automated machine learning web-scraping, strictly limiting its data to what companies explicitly publish online [6]. Traditional platforms thus operate as a "black box" blindspot for stealth or offline private markets [5], wasting deal teams' time as they try to manually fill in the blanks [14].
  • Variable Data Accuracy: Grata’s accuracy is highly dependent on the quality of a target company’s online presence [7]. G2 reviewers consistently flag data inaccuracy as the top complaint, noting that some listed companies are "extremely small" or do not even exist [24].
  • Incomplete Contact Coverage: Due to scraping gaps, Grata's contact coverage can lag behind competitors, with users noting coverage rates around 95% [41].

SourceScrub: The Limitation of Static Curation

SourceScrub positions itself as a targeted tool, allowing users to "fish with spears instead of nets" [8]. It covers 17 million companies across 290,000 sources [43] and uses a "Profile+ Quality Standard" for multi-source validation [26], aggressively aggregating market maps, award lists, and conferences to reduce manual work [17]. It also offers on-demand data operations for list building [35].

  • Static Signal Constraints: Despite its rigorous curation, SourceScrub's signals are heavily tied to static lists (e.g., conference attendees, buyer guides) rather than dynamic, forward-looking predictive algorithms [15].
  • Narrow Coverage and Legacy UI: Because SourceScrub relies on manual curation and verification to maintain high accuracy, its overall market coverage is noticeably narrower than Grata's [25]. Furthermore, users view its search interface as traditional and less flexible than modern alternatives [16].

The Universal Gap: Lack of Analytical Synthesis

Perhaps the strongest positioning angle for DeepSignal is that both Grata and SourceScrub are purely retrospective data aggregation tools. They primarily report on deals only after advisors or companies publicly announce them [33]. While both platforms excel at raw data collection, they fail to assist private market investors in actually analyzing or making sense of the collected information [34]. DeepSignal can position itself as an analytical, forward-looking intelligence engine rather than a static directory.

Feature Gap Comparison Table

Platform Primary Architecture Core Vulnerabilities & Limitations Sourcing Posture
Grata Automated NLP & web-scraping [6], [42] Fails to capture offline/stealth companies; invents/includes "extremely small" or non-existent companies [24]; contact gaps [41]. Broad ("Nets")
SourceScrub Manual curation & aggregation [17], [25] Relies on retrospective, static lists (conferences, awards) [15]; narrower coverage [25]; rigid UI [16]. Targeted ("Spears")
DeepSignal (Proposed) Predictive AI & Deep Analytics Opportunity to capitalize on the lack of forward-looking, synthesized deal intelligence [33], [34]. Predictive

Limitations / Open Questions

  • Missing Technographic Data: The provided evidence does not contain specific information regarding which of the identified firms use Affinity CRM, nor does it detail any active Grata, SourceScrub, PitchBook, or Inven contracts or their expiration dates.
  • Missing AUM Data: The specific AUM ranges of the identified PE firms (e.g., whether Lion Equity Partners, Kirtland Capital, or Bertram Capital fit the exact $200M–$2B requirement) are not detailed in the source data.
  • Action Required: DeepSignal must utilize its internal data enrichment tools to qualify these five high-probability network targets against the strict CRM and contract expiration criteria before initiating the 60–90 day outreach sequence.

Sources

[1] Private Equity Firm of the Year: The Riverside Company — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/awards-2023-private-equity-firm-of-the-year/ · professional [2] Meet ACG’s New Chair and Board Members for 2024-2025 — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/acg-chair-board-members-2024-2025/ · professional [3] Association for Corporate Growth® Announces 2021 Board of Directors & Chapter Council — https://www.acg.org/news-trends/news/association-corporate-growthr-announces-2021-board-directors-chapter · professional [4] Meet the New ACG Global Board Members — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/meet-new-acg-global-board-members/ · professional [5] Incomplete Data is Costing You — https://grata.com/why-grata · professional [6] DealPotential vs Grata and Sourcescrub | What Sets Us Apart — https://dealpotential.com/dealpotential-vs-grata-vs-sourcescrub/ · professional [7] Grata vs Sourcescrub Detailed Comparison — Otio Blog — https://otio.ai/blog/grata-vs-sourcescrub · general [8] Sourcescrub the Deal Sourcing Platform for AI Driven Investment Research & Deal Origination — https://www.sourcescrub.com/ · professional [9] Grata/SourceScrub/Inven - Which is the best? — https://searchfunder.com/post/gratasourcescrubinven-which-is-the-best · social [10] Private Equity Firm of the Year: The Riverside Company — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/awards-2023-private-equity-firm-of-the-year/ · professional [11] Meet ACG’s New Chair and Board Members for 2024-2025 — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/acg-chair-board-members-2024-2025/ · professional [12] Association for Corporate Growth® Announces 2021 Board of Directors & Chapter Council — https://www.acg.org/news-trends/news/association-corporate-growthr-announces-2021-board-directors-chapter · professional [13] Meet the New ACG Global Board Members — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/meet-new-acg-global-board-members/ · professional [14] Incomplete Data is Costing You — https://grata.com/why-grata · professional [15] DealPotential vs Grata and Sourcescrub | What Sets Us Apart — https://dealpotential.com/dealpotential-vs-grata-vs-sourcescrub/ · professional [16] Grata vs Sourcescrub Detailed Comparison — Otio Blog — https://otio.ai/blog/grata-vs-sourcescrub · general [17] Sourcescrub the Deal Sourcing Platform for AI Driven Investment Research & Deal Origination — https://www.sourcescrub.com/ · professional [18] Grata/SourceScrub/Inven - Which is the best? — https://searchfunder.com/post/gratasourcescrubinven-which-is-the-best · social [19] Private Equity Firm of the Year: The Riverside Company — https://middlemarketgrowth.org/awards-2023-private-equity-firm